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“They’d probably be very pleased to hear you say that. It’s all very tame.”
Gracie put her fork down, taking a break from scarfing down her food.
“I’m Andrew, Andy, by the way.”
Gracie gave him an appraising look. Spending a few minutes chatting to a good looking guy was not, she decided, the worst thing in the world. She stuck her hand out for Andy to shake.
“G.”
“Just G?” Andy asked, moving along a seat so he was next to her before taking her hand. It was a firm handshake. Reliably strong hands.
“Just G,” Gracie confirmed, using Crystal’s nickname for her.
“Well, Just G, it seems you’ve been missing out on the cultural phenomenon that is axe throwing. Allow me to explain it to you.”
“Go ahead,” Gracie said, not quite smiling as she picked up her fork and started eating again. This was much better than sitting in her stuffy, boring apartment and ordering take-out for dinner. Andy was witty and entertaining, easy to listen to as she ate. It was, she mused, the perfect way to unwind. Being here was a world away from her last assignment; a fun Sunday afternoon before she had to start her next job.
“Wait, you’ve been talking for ten minutes about how terrible axe throwing is, but you’ve never even tried it!” Grace chuckled, pushing her empty plate away from her.
“A person doesn’t have to try something to know it’s silly.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Grace said, resting her chin on her hand. Andy wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. He didn’t even have the tell-tale band of pale skin that the sleazy and the recently divorced always had. She grinned warmly, “Some things, a person just has to try for themselves.”
“Hmm,” Andy’s eyes seemed to sparkle as his gaze dropped to her lips, lingering there. “I guess that’s sometimes true.”
He put his elbow on the bar, resting his chin on his hand, mirroring her position. Gracie knew that if she saw a couple sitting at a bar in this same position, she would assume the two people were flirting with each other. Was that what she and Andy were doing right now?
“Hey guys,” the bartender said. Gracie quickly sat up straight. She’d been so focused on Andy that she hadn’t even noticed the bartender approaching them. She usually prided herself on her situational awareness, but Andy was pretty distracting. “So...my shift is about to end...do you mind settling up your tab now?”
“Sure. No problem,” Andy said quickly, getting his wallet out of his pocket.
The bartender rang up their bills and Andy paid first. Professional instinct kicked in and, as Andy handed over his credit card, Grace glanced at it, reading it upside down. The embossed name on the card read Andrew Chesney.
Grace’s stomach lurched uncomfortably. It wasn’t an uncommon name, but there wasn’t a doubt in Gracie’s mind. This was the same man.
God, she'd come so close to ruining everything! It was only pure chance that she'd introduced herself as G rather than her real name. The folder of information on Attitude magazine was on the bar behind her. While Chesney paid, Gracie tucked the folder safely away in her large handbag. Luckily, there was nothing on the outside to indicate what the folder contained.
“I’d better be leaving too,” Gracie said, getting her wallet out to pay. She had enough cash that she didn’t have to get her own credit card, with her real name, out and risk Chesney seeing it.
"Oh," Andy looked at her with obvious disappointment. He crumbled up his receipt, shoving it in his pocket. "Yeah, me too. Hopefully, I'll see you here next Sunday?"
Grace plastered a thin smile on her face. Oh, she’d be seeing him a lot sooner than that! Her stomach gave another uncomfortable lurch. Of course, the one time that she let her guard down and let herself relax and chat with a handsome guy, this had to happen!
“Maybe,” she lied. God, she was never going to come to Happy Mike’s ever again.
“Cool, it was nice meeting you, Just G!” he flashed her one of his disarming smiles. Gracie watched him walk away, mentally scolding herself for not following her instincts. She’d known not to trust a smile that cute but she’d flirted with him anyway!
Chesney took his hand out of his pocket as he left the bar and, as he did so, his wallet came out of the pocket too. It tumbled down and landed on the floor. Chesney didn’t notice. He was still walking away.
While the bartender was still counting the bills Grace had just handed him, she slipped over and picked up Chesney’s wallet. No-one noticed her. Returning to her seat at the bar, she opened up the wallet and gave it a quick peruse.
Besides a few bank cards and about fifty bucks in cash, Chesney had a bunch of business cards in there. There was the same kind of photo ID key card that Klarov had made for her. Chesney was grinning that same adorable smile in this photo. Gracie scowled down at it.
Chapter Three
Gracie took out her phone,deciding that she’d let him know that he’d dropped his wallet. After all, the man’s bank cards were in there!
Andrew’s cell phone number was printed on his business cards and he picked up almost immediately.
